"The free dental clinic attracted as many as 600 people seeking care from about 150 volunteer dentists and hygienists...

A second clinic is scheduled today, with about the same number expected to wait for help on a first-come, first-served basis.

'The need is great,' said Chapel Hill dentist Keith Taylor, a regular volunteer with the Missions of Mercy dental program. 'There's well over 1-1/2 million people in this state that absolutely cannot afford the basic dental services.'"

"Many of the people who come to the free clinics are in discomfort from gum disease, abscesses or severe cavities, Taylor said.

'In general, we probably do three times as many extractions as we do fillings because pain is a great motivator,' Taylor said. 'When people are in pain, they want to be seen.'"

Friday, October 23, 2009

Wisconsin is 90% fluoridated but has a dental shortage because the need for oral health care is so great. "A $200,000 study a state commission approved Wednesday to find a solution to the shortage of dentists in northern Wisconsin could recommend that a dental school be built in Marshfield."

“I don’t want to meet any more Vietnam veterans like the one who had to pull his own abscessed tooth because he couldn’t see a dentist,” said Sen. Senator Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, whose legislation secured funding in the 2009-11 state budget for the study.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

"Residents of the United States who need teeth extracted may soon have to do it the old-fashioned way — with pliers, whiskey and elbow grease — because there may not be enough dentists to go around."

"American dentists are often reluctant to open offices in rural areas, a situation that will only be exacerbated when the number of practicing dentists starts to decline in 2014. To obtain dental care, many rural residents will have to rely on organizations like the Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corp., which operates [free] clinics" which pop up sporadically to meet extremely long lines of people needing urgent dental care.

Also most dentists refuse Medicaid patients and 130 million Americans don't have dental insurance.

"Further compounding the problem are such factors as a continuing migration from general practice to specialties like orthodontics, the closure of dental schools, a decrease in the size of graduating classes, the forthcoming mass retirement of older dentists and the growing number of female dentists, who tend to work fewer hours than their male colleagues."

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

"'As dentists, we see an alarming number of children with permanent erosion of the dental enamel on their teeth,' says Dr. Bruce Templeton, a practicing dentist in Minneapolis who is also president of the Minnesota Dental Association." In Minnesota, fluoridation is state-mandated.

"The unpublished Oral Health Policy details how general oral health has improved but outlined 'how this is not the case among certain groups, including medical card holders and children under five years of age'.

It states that 'the total State investment in oral health is estimated at in excess of €250 million annually'.

The policy is critical of how current public dental schemes are failing those they are designed to help, in particular children, people with special needs and older people in care.

It states that there is 'an apparent mismatch between peaks in childhood caries and age range on which public dental treatment focuses . . . It is clear that young people need more preventive dental care and advice and their oral hygiene and dietary habits must improve'."

Saturday, October 17, 2009

"A New York Times article in 2007, headlined “In Kentucky's Teeth, Toll of Neglect and Poverty,” painted a dismal portrait. It said, for example, that half the people of Eastern Kentucky didn't have health insurance and that fewer than half of Kentucky's dentists regularly accepted Medicaid. So no surprise: Kentucky leads the nation in the number of people 65 and over with missing teeth. And nearly half of Kentucky's children ages 2-4, a survey found in 2001, had tooth decay."

Fluoridation is state-mandated in Kentucky. Kentucky spending even more money on tooth care:"The effort will be financed by $1.6 million in federal grants, matched with state resources."

North Carolina is 88% fluoridated: "Data indicators for Ready Children were gleaned mainly from the N.C. Kindergarten Health Assessment, a form completed by a health professional about each child starting kindergarten in North Carolina. Statewide data suggests that up to 35% of North Carolina’s 2- to 4-year-olds are outside the normal weight range and 1-in-5 children start school with untreated tooth decay"

Tulsa is fluoridated: "At least 400 volunteers are needed for a mammoth dental clinic Feb. 5-6 at the Tulsa Convention Center that will provide free tooth extractions, fillings and cleanings to people who otherwise couldn't afford them."

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

"Beshear says Kentucky had the most people in the country with missing teeth in people over age 65 in a 2004 study, and more than a quarter of all residents had lost six or more teeth to tooth decay or gum disease. A 2001 study found nearly half of kids age 4 or younger had untreated dental issues, more than double the national average." In Kentucky, fluoridated is state-mandated.

Although Medicaid, the federal-state partnership covering America’s poorest kids, provides dental coverage for all children enrolled in the program, it’s a phantom benefit for most: roughly 12.6 million kids, or 66 percent, don’t get dental care at all."

Friday, October 02, 2009

"'The demand for proper dental care cannot be fulfilled without proper professional leadership in the area of dental care. And even though we have the training of dental auxiliaries, even though we have put in place the policies of fluoridation of our water supplies so as to decrease dental caries,' he said."

"Jamaica, he said, has one of the worst incidence of peridontal diseases in the world."

Thursday, October 01, 2009

"American dentists provide outstanding care to the people who can afford it, but they are failing the other half of the nation that can't."

"In 2007, the difficulty Medicaid recipients experience acquiring dental treatment hit the news when Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old from Prince George's County, Md., died after bacteria from an untreated dental abscess spread to his brain."